Objective

Be prepared to choose and teach many exercises, poses and techniques for cultivating core strength.

Overview

Many yoga poses develop or require core strength. In this digest, we bring together pose variations, exercises and techniques that are particularly core-focused, organized in these categories:

• Pelvic Tilts & Opposite Limb Extension
• Toe Taps, Sit-Ups & Leg Lifts
• Plank & Related Poses
• Navasana & Standing Poses
• Backbends
• More (Twists, Arm Balances, Pranayama)

Many Asanas Require & Build Core Stability

Just about all yoga asanas, from standing postures to twists to inversions to balancing poses, require and build abdominal strength and stability… For example, lifting and lowering the legs in inverted poses like Headstand, Handstand, and Shoulderstand gives abs a serious workout. In seated twists, the oblique muscles (located along the sides of the abdomen) work as they lift and rotate the torso. Standing postures such as Triangle Pose and Warrior 2 also work the obliques as well as the deepest abdominal muscle, the transversus abdominis, as they help stabilize the torso and spine. Folding postures, in which the thighs and chest are drawn toward each other, including many arm balances and all sorts of sit-up-like movements, target the most visible belly muscle, the rectus abdominis—the featured player in that washboard look you see in fitness magazines. – Alisa Bauman, Yoga Journal, How Yoga Works Your Core  link

Naming Issue

Please note the potential confusion related to the spelling of “Cakravakasana“ (Ruddy Goose) and “Chakravakasana“ (Sunbird). These usually refer to two different poses but some sources will mis-spell the name, causing even more confusion.

• Chakravakasana is used by some sources to refer to Opposite Limb Extension, and by some to refer to a flow that begins standing on the knees.
• Cakravakasana (Ruddy Goose flow) is a flow from Table Pose to Extended Child’s Pose.
• Chakravakasana (Sunbird flow) is a flow from knees to Extended Child’s Pose, then to Balancing Table, Extended Child’s and back to knees.

See Also

• More Strengthening Practices (for upper and lower body strengthening)